Konrad
Organic winemaking
Alluvial,
free-draining solid and diurnal climate - 2,500 hrs. Sunshine per annum paired
with cool nights -create the background for this elegant fruit-driven wine.
Low
cropping through shoot and fruit thinning with final picking of very ripe fruit
results in a perfect base to make premium wine.
The winemaking in traditional style with old and
new French barriques (small French barrels) competes for the process to produce
a wine which will be a perfect partner to classical European or meat dishes.
Konrad. Konrad Wines is fully owned by the Hengstler family, Konrad, Sigrun and their two sons, Conrad and Carlo.
The Hengstlers originally migrated from Germany to Melbourne in Australia, where they settled for a period of over 20 years. While travelling through New Zealand, Konrad discovered Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and was immediately attracted to this outstanding wine. From that point, the decision to move to Marlborough and become involved in the wine industry was an easy one.
The family planted their first vines in 1996 and produce a range of wines from their two vineyards in the Wairau and Waihopai Valleys of Marlborough, totalling 40 hectares. Every year, after fermentation, wines from the two distinctly different sites are used for the blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, giving the family the opportunity to maintain the same high quality and consistent flavours year after year.
The grapes for the Gewurztraminer and the award winning Riesling
are grown exclusively in the Waihopai Valley next to the office and residence.
Quality is the absolute focus of Konrad and it starts in the
vineyard where no corners are cut, and continues in the winery where
‘handcrafting’ is the applied standard. Being a family-run business, control
over quality is truly ‘hands on’. Konrad’s philosophy is ’the best fertilizer
is the foot of the farmer’. Through every day personal involvement, a focus on
quality, and a commitment to reasonable pricing, the result is simple… value
for money for the customer.
Konrad. Konrad Wines is fully owned by the Hengstler family, Konrad, Sigrun and their two sons, Conrad and Carlo.
The Hengstlers originally migrated from Germany to Melbourne in Australia, where they settled for a period of over 20 years. While travelling through New Zealand, Konrad discovered Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and was immediately attracted to this outstanding wine. From that point, the decision to move to Marlborough and become involved in the wine industry was an easy one.
The family planted their first vines in 1996 and produce a range of wines from their two vineyards in the Wairau and Waihopai Valleys of Marlborough, totalling 40 hectares. Every year, after fermentation, wines from the two distinctly different sites are used for the blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, giving the family the opportunity to maintain the same high quality and consistent flavours year after year.
The grapes for the Gewurztraminer and the award winning Riesling
are grown exclusively in the Waihopai Valley next to the office and residence.
Quality is the absolute focus of Konrad and it starts in the
vineyard where no corners are cut, and continues in the winery where
‘handcrafting’ is the applied standard. Being a family-run business, control
over quality is truly ‘hands on’. Konrad’s philosophy is ’the best fertilizer
is the foot of the farmer’. Through every day personal involvement, a focus on
quality, and a commitment to reasonable pricing, the result is simple… value
for money for the customer.
Marlborough wineries offer a huge range of varieties, from exquisite Pinot Noir to intense Chardonnay, and vivacious aromatics.
Wrapping around the surrounding hills the Omaka, Fairhall, Brancott, Ben Morvan and Waihopai Valleys make up this important sub-region. Soils and meso-climates vary, but tend to be heavier and contain more clay than Wairau. It also becomes cooler and drier further south into the valleys. A broad range of varieties are grown according to the merit of each site, with particularly good Pinot Noir and aromatics being produced by the area.
Old, gravely riverbed soils, and diverse aspects and rainfall create numerous meso-climates within this sub-region. Broadly, it covers a range of cooler, drier inland sites; barren stony, early-ripening sites; and sea-breeze moderated coastal sites. Across the sub-region wines reflect the strengths of individual vineyards and vignerons, but all have the hallmark fruit intensity and body.
The Awatere Valley is the most geographically distinct sub-region, lying south of the Wairau Valley and stretching inland from the sea, and climbing towards the inland Kaikoura ranges. Cooler, drier, windier and often with a degree of elevation, sites with typically lower yields produce bright, aromatic Pinot Noir and dramatic, distinctive Sauvignons, both of which are attracting increasing international acclaim.